NATO

Security & Defense

From July 7 to 8, 2026, heads of state and government gathered at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, where allies sought to capitalize on the success of 2025’s landmark defense spending pledge and begin converting cash into capabilities. Check out our commentary, analysis, and events covering the convening and our latest analysis on NATO, courtesy of our experts.

Ankara Summit Content Series

These articles are part of a series featuring Atlantic Council experts’ analysis and recommendations on the key challenges facing allies at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, and beyond.

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

This year’s NATO Summit takes place at a critical time for the Alliance. With no marquee deliverable like last year, NATO leadership will point to progress from European allies on defense spending, defense industrial production, and aid to Ukraine.

European allies can boost NATO unity at the Ankara summit by accelerating eastern flank deterrence

Ahead of the upcoming summit, European allies should commit to accelerating their deployment of full-strength combat brigades to the Baltic states by 2027.

NATO allies need a plan for addressing threats below the threshold of war

NATO should take on a more active role in coordinating the response to attacks below the threshold of war. Specifically, the Alliance should use the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara to establish response options for its member states.

The Ankara summit is an opportunity for NATO to ramp up engagement with its southern neighborhood

NATO’s engagement with its southern neighborhood has been inconsistent, despite growing security challenges. The Ankara summit offers and opportunity to strengthen dialogue with regional partners and reinforce NATO’s southern strategy.

Innovation ranges: How NATO can test and deploy cutting-edge capabilities faster

The Ankara summit offers allies an opportunity to absorb the lessons from innovation ranges and revitalize the defense innovation pipeline.

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

To help build resilience, NATO allies should integrate Nordic, Baltic, and Ukrainian “total defense” practices into NATO planning and exercises.

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

At the upcoming Ankara summit, European allies should underscore their increased defense spending and their tangible contributions to shared security.

How NATO can strengthen the transatlantic defense industrial base in Ankara and beyond

The NATO Summit in Ankara is an opportunity to advance a stronger, more integrated transatlantic defense industrial base.

Europe’s no-panic playbook for a radically different US foreign policy

NATO and the EU need to make significant, lasting changes in response to Trump 2.0 national security policy–quickly, and ideally in coordination with Washington.

NATO’s new Arctic presence shows that European allies are stepping up

Heading into the Ankara summit, the Arctic region offers a prime example of where European allies are stepping up and laying the groundwork for deeper cooperation.

More European NATO allies should step up help to Ukraine through PURL

NATO’s Ankara summit is an opportunity for allies to expand participation in the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), which funds US-made military equipment for Ukraine.

NATO can emerge from the Ankara summit stronger. Here’s how.

Allies can strengthen the Alliance by continuing to increase defense spending, accelerating joint capability development, and sustaining their support for Ukraine.

Trackers and Data Visualizations

Jun 20, 2025

NATO defense spending tracker

By
Kristen Taylor, Julia Salabert

The Transatlantic Security Initiative’s NATO defense spending tracker delves into data and figures to analyze current defense spending trends.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

FEATURED READING

Letter from Strasbourg (Part Three): A French Defense Update

Dispatches
Jul 9, 2026

Eleven takeaways from the NATO Summit in Ankara

By
Atlantic Council experts

Atlantic Council experts break down the most important developments coming out of the Ankara summit.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Fast Thinking
Jul 8, 2026

Was the NATO Summit a success?

By
Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council experts break down an eventful two days in Ankara.

NATO
Security & Defense

Dispatches
Jul 2, 2026

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

Allies must preserve the ability to move, reinforce, sustain, communicate, mobilize, and, if necessary, fight under conditions of disruption.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

Dispatches
Jul 2, 2026

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

By
Ian Brzezinski, Philippe Dickinson

In Ankara, European leaders must seize the opportunity to reinforce the long-term foundations of the Alliance.

Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia

Dispatches
Jun 23, 2026

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

By
Kristen Taylor, Matt Trunkey

Expect NATO leadership to focus on three main issues: defense spending, defense industrial production, and aid to Ukraine.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Dispatches
Jun 17, 2026

NATO’s southern flank is exposed. Portugal can help fortify it.

By
Randi Charno Levine

The Alliance was not designed to focus only on its easter flank. Vulnerabilities to NATO’s south are accumulating faster than strategy is adapting.

Maritime Security
NATO

FEATURED EVENTS

Private Event
Thu, June 25, 2026 • 1:45 pm ET

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the Ankara Summit Agenda

AN AC FRONT PAGE EVENT—NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte lays out his priorities for the upcoming Ankara summit.

Central Europe
Eastern Europe
Europe & Eurasia
European Union

Public Event
Wed, June 17, 2026 • 3:30 pm ET

Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis on the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara

AN AC FRONT PAGE EVENT—The Atlantic Council hosts Senators Shaheen and Tillis for a conversation on the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO
Security & Defense

Public Event
Tue, April 28, 2026 • 10:15 am ET

Belgium’s defense minister on the future of transatlantic security relations

Minister of Defense of Belgium Theo Francken shares his views on transatlantic security developments and Belgium’s role in Europe’s growing defense industry.

Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia
NATO
Politics & Diplomacy

TUNE IN

ARCHIVES: THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL ON THE ROAD TO THE NATO SUMMIT

2025: The Hague, Netherlands

Recorded events

Video analysis

Select publications

2024: Washington, DC, United States

Landing page: Atlantic Council at the NATO Summit in Washington

Recorded events

Video analysis

Select publications

2023: Vilnius, Lithuania

Recorded events

Ideas to implementation: Priorities for NATO’s Vilnius Summit

Select publications

Prior to 2023

2022: Madrid, Spain

Event: Priorities for the NATO Summit and security in Europe
Publication: The triumphs and question marks from this week’s NATO summit

2021: Brussels, Belgium

Event: A conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Publication: FAST THINKING: A new era for NATO

2018: Brussels, Belgium

Event: Raising the curtain on the 2018 NATO Brussels Summit
Event: The road to NATO’s Brussels Summit

Programs and initiatives

The Transatlantic Security Initiative, in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, shapes and influences the debate on the greatest security challenges facing the North Atlantic Alliance and its key partners.

Learn more

Within the Atlantic Council’s longstanding commitment to strengthening the transatlantic relationship, the Atlantic Council Turkey Program conducts research, provides thought leadership, and offers a platform for strategic dialogue between the US, Turkey, and NATO allies to address the region’s toughest challenges and explore opportunities, including in the fields of energy, business & trade, technology, defense, and security.

Learn more

Content

Soldier in the French Foreign Legion , Oct. 4, 2010

NATOSource

Oct 8, 2015

Letter from Strasbourg (Part Three): A French Defense Update

By Leo Michel

Insights from the 13th annual “summer defense college,” in Strasbourg.

France NATO

Soldiers Disembarking from a Chinook Helicopter, Feb. 12, 2013

NATOSource

Oct 8, 2015

British Troops to Bolster Baltic Buffer Against Russia

By Financial Times and Guardian

From Sam Jones, Financial Times: Britain is to join Germany and the US in committing to long-term troop deployments in the Baltic states to deter Russian aggression and shore up Nato’s eastern borders.

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Oct 8, 2015

A Three-Pronged Strategy to Deal with Putin

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council’s James L. Jones, Jr. recommends a toolkit that includes economic, political, and security components The United States must develop a three-pronged approach that includes economic, political, and security components to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “retrograde ambitions in favor of the peaceful and progressive order the transatlantic community and the world had envisioned […]

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

French Defense Minister Yves Le Drian and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, June 3, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 7, 2015

Letter from Strasbourg (Part Two): French Doubts about European Defense

By Leo Michel

Insights from the 13th annual “summer defense college,” in Strasbourg.

European Union France

NATOSource

Oct 6, 2015

Letter from Strasbourg (Part One): French Defense Priorities and Capabilities

By Leo Michel

NATO is past the half-way mark between last September’s Wales Summit and the Warsaw Summit planned for next July. So it is not too soon to ask how Allies are responding to the strategic, capability, and other challenges identified in Wales.

France Iraq

Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted by UK Typhoon participating in NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission, June 17, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 5, 2015

A ‘New Normal’ for NATO and Baltic Sea Security

By Anna Wieslander

It might appear natural that focus on Baltic Sea security would have come quickly for NATO after the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014, but this was not the case.

Germany NATO

Meeting of the North Atlantic Council, July 28, 2015

NATOSource

Oct 5, 2015

Allies Respond to Russia’s Violations of Turkish and NATO Airspace

By NATO

The North Atlantic Council met today to hold consultations on the potential implications of the recent dangerous military actions of the Russian Federation in and around Syria.

NATO Russia

NATOSource

Oct 5, 2015

Turkey: Russian Fighter Jet Violated Our Airspace

By Turkish Foreign Ministry

A fighter aircraft belonging to the Russian Federation violated Turkish airspace at 12:08 on 3 October 2015 south of the Yayladağı/Hatay region.

NATO Russia

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Nov. 18, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 2, 2015

Hungary Announces It Will Host 7th NATO Planning Center

By Reuters

Hungary, along with other states in central and eastern Europe, will host a command center to help coordinate deployment of NATO’s rapid reaction force in an emergency, the government said on Friday.

Hungary NATO

Gen. John Galvin, NATO SACEUR and EUCOM Commander1987-1992

NATOSource

Oct 1, 2015

John Galvin, NATO Commander at the Close of the Cold War, Dies at 86

By Washington Post and New York Times

From Harrison Smith, Washington Post: John R. Galvin, a four-star Army general who served as the United States’ and NATO’s top military commander in Europe in the final years of the Cold War and whose foresight on counterinsurgency strategy influenced one of his young aides, future general and CIA director David H. Petraeus, died Sept. […]

NATO Security & Defense

Experts

Fellow

Kyle Atwell

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Afghanistan Colombia

Fellow

David Auerswald

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

Staff

James Batchik

Deputy Director, EU Programs and Operations

Europe Center

Central Europe Digital Policy

Fellow

Andrew Bernard

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

NATO Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Hans Binnendijk

Distinguished Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Sara Bjerg Moller

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Danish Europe & Eurasia

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Ankara Summit Content Series

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

European allies can boost NATO unity at the Ankara summit by accelerating eastern flank deterrence

NATO allies need a plan for addressing threats below the threshold of war

The Ankara summit is an opportunity for NATO to ramp up engagement with its southern neighborhood

Innovation ranges: How NATO can test and deploy cutting-edge capabilities faster

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

How NATO can strengthen the transatlantic defense industrial base in Ankara and beyond

Europe’s no-panic playbook for a radically different US foreign policy

NATO’s new Arctic presence shows that European allies are stepping up

More European NATO allies should step up help to Ukraine through PURL

NATO can emerge from the Ankara summit stronger. Here’s how.

TRACKING NATO SPENDING

NATO defense spending tracker

FEATURED READING

Eleven takeaways from the NATO Summit in Ankara

Was the NATO Summit a success?

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

NATO’s southern flank is exposed. Portugal can help fortify it.

FEATURED EVENTS

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the Ankara Summit Agenda

Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis on the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara

Belgium’s defense minister on the future of transatlantic security relations

TUNE IN

ARCHIVES: THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL ON THE ROAD TO THE NATO SUMMIT

Programs and initiatives

Content

Letter from Strasbourg (Part Three): A French Defense Update

British Troops to Bolster Baltic Buffer Against Russia

A Three-Pronged Strategy to Deal with Putin

Letter from Strasbourg (Part Two): French Doubts about European Defense

Letter from Strasbourg (Part One): French Defense Priorities and Capabilities

A ‘New Normal’ for NATO and Baltic Sea Security

Allies Respond to Russia’s Violations of Turkish and NATO Airspace

Turkey: Russian Fighter Jet Violated Our Airspace

Hungary Announces It Will Host 7th NATO Planning Center

John Galvin, NATO Commander at the Close of the Cold War, Dies at 86

Experts

Kyle Atwell

David Auerswald

James Batchik

Andrew Bernard

Hans Binnendijk

Sara Bjerg Moller

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